As the world prepares for a possible coronavirus pandemic, China has seen its COVID-19 case numbers fall consistently in recent days. Increasingly, the focus for people and officials has shifted to resuming normal life and business activity as quickly and safely as possible. But that is proving to be no easy task — here in Beijing, parts of the city have started to become more lively, while other areas remain nearly deserted. Here’s a glimpse of what I’ve been seeing on the ground.
The capital’s central thoroughfare, the Avenue of Eternal Peace (Chang’an Dajie) now truly lives up to its name, with the usual steady stream of traffic reduced to a trickle.
These reduced traffic flows combined with enhanced street cleaning have left this normally dusty city looking squeaky clean.
Wangfujing Avenue, a major shopping street, is usually teeming with people. Now it is desolate.
Some stores have still not dismantled their decorations from the New Year holiday. The festive spirit seems awkwardly out of place amid the subdued mood of the outbreak.
A very quiet Apple store was accessible only through a single, guarded entrance after undergoing a mandatory temperature check. An employee told me that they had recently organised a customer workshop but, sadly, nobody came.
Subways and shopping malls are still strangely quiet. It could be some time before people have the confidence to step back inside these public spaces in large numbers.
Outside, storefront hatches are providing people with daily necessities such as medicine and food.
From supermarkets to banks and restaurants, there is a ‘new normal’ of submitting to temperature checks, waiting around outside, and consuming food off the premises.
Some bars and restaurants are now allowing customers to drink or dine in. Staff must wear masks and gloves but customers are, fortunately, allowed to leave their faces uncovered while eating and drinking.
After an extended lull following the New Year holiday, it appears that China’s online shopping industry is rebounding. Logistics companies have continued operating throughout the outbreak, but have been restricted from entering residential compounds or alleyways. The result is that roadsIdes have been turned into informal package collection points.
The entrances to Beijing’s historic hutong alleys have been blocked off with makeshift barricades guarded by volunteers from the local residents’ committee (considered the grassroots of the Chinese Communist Party). This has, in effect, turned entire blocks into ad-hoc gated communities.
There are disaster relief tents at each of these checkpoints, ready to isolate anyone suspected of having the coronavirus (or provide shelter to volunteers on the night shift).
Hutong dwellers are only allowed to enter upon showing a card with their name, address, ID card/passport number and telephone number.
This policy may seem a tad excessive, and it has certainly created hassle for residents and others who need to get in and out easily. However, it makes sense for one reason above all: these old communities contain a disproportionately large number of senior citizens, the demographic most vulnerable to COVID-19. An outbreak with a significant number of elderly fatalities right on the central government’s doorstep would be both a humanitarian and political disaster for the CCP.
Within the barricades, the hutong are extremely quiet, a stark contrast with the normal bustle of bikes, three-wheelers and cars. It feels more like an abandoned provincial village, or perhaps the walled Beijing of old, but certainly not the modern capital of the world’s most populous country.
On the main streets, there are more people and cars on the roads than was the case one or two weeks ago.
But many places are still shut, such as this mosque.
As more shops and restaurants reopen, police have been out on patrol to check that adequate preventative measures are being taken.
Propaganda slogans instruct people that “epidemic prevention is an order” and “letting one’s guard down would be an insult to everyone’s great efforts”.
In a similar spirit, advertising boards at bus stops show messages of encouragement in the “battle” against the coronavirus, some of them sponsored by corporates like Lenovo.
What next?
While still a shadow of its regular self, Beijing is slowly cranking back into gear, as is much of China outside Hubei. For now, cleaner, quieter urban spaces offer residents a small silver lining to the ongoing disruption, stress and boredom of partial lockdowns.
But for how long will this abnormal state of restricted movement and business activity continue? And what will “normality” look like once the outbreak is over? Will some of the preventative measures currently in place be adopted on a more permanent basis by businesses or local authorities hoping to stay one step ahead of a second wave?
In large part, the answers to those questions now depend less on Beijing and more on its international counterparts. For, just as China appears to have its domestic outbreak under control, other countries may only now be seeing the tip of their own COVID-19 icebergs.
Indeed, in a somewhat ironic reversal of fortunes, the Beijing and Shanghai municipal governments this week said they would impose a 14-day quarantine on arrivals from countries severely affected by the coronavirus. It comes after many nations have imposed similar measures on travellers from China, though falls short of an outright entry ban, like that imposed by the US.
For better or worse, the Chinese government’s policies over the past two months appear to have successfully controlled the spread of the coronavirus internally. If other national governments can achieve similar results, then a global outbreak could possibly be slowed in a similar timeframe, albeit at great social and economic cost.
If, however, the global situation deteriorates, either as a result of policy failures, viral mutations or other factors entirely, then current restrictions will be likely to continue. Until a vaccine is developed, social distancing policies including community lockdowns may be the best remedy that we have. And, much like the virus Itself, it seems this approach is now spreading from China to all corners of the world.
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